How Green Becomes Wood

"If you're sure," Daizi replied genially, squeezing Alec on the shoulder again. "We have a float we can attach to the back of the boat if anyone wants to ride on that, I think we've got an hour or two left on the rental. It would be fun, I think."
 
"I almost forgot about the float," Xander said. He plopped down next to Alec and gave him a little nudge. "Wanna give it a try with me? It's big enough for the two of us if we squish."

"I don't want to fall off," Alec said instantly.

"Ba's driving. He'll be gentle," Xander assured him.

"Well.... Alright," Alec agreed reluctantly.
 
"And you can hold on," Daizi assured them, "and you have your life jacket, and you know your father will be absolutely sure nothing will go wrong."

With it decided, Dark carefully set up the float, triple checking it was secure, and once they were ready, piloted the boat forward, trying to hit the medium between what Alec would feel comfortable with and what Xander would find fun, giving preference to Alec, because even when pulling them slowly, the waves still bounced them.
 
Alec watched Dark secure the float, and Xander got on first. Xander got himself situated and called for Alec to join him. With his brother so obviously secure and having gone on before, Alec got up the courage to climb on with him. They held tight to the float and to each other and yelled to Dark that they were ready!

The boat moved forward, and while it might have been slower than Xander would have liked, he was just happy to be moving. Alec even relaxed enough to sit up a bit and enjoy himself. The pair cackled happily at the bouncing waves, having a blast. Today was a good day to be alive!
 
When they both seemed really comfortable, Dark sped up slightly, slowly easing into it so Alec had time to adjust and find his comfort level as they went along. Eventually he pulled to a stop so they could get out of the water and Daizi could have a turn (He himself could not fit comfortably on the float and was fine with missing it), and when their time was up, he returned the boat to the dock as required.

After disembarking, as they went to order food they could bring to eat on the beach, Daizi expressed how much she had loved that, and reiterated that even if nothing about the dolphin encounter tomorrow she could really experience, she couldn't wait to just have some time on a boat again, because she loved how the waves rocked them. "I like when Cooger takes us onto the lake, but there's something different when we can enjoy the waves!"
 
"That was fun," Alec agreed, still trying to get his hair to behave.

"We should totally go again," Xander said, wringing a bit of water out of his shirt, making it a wrinkled mess. They both looked quite bedraggled but happy. They passed a water bottle back and forth.
 
"The first time I saw the ocean was when I was flying over it," Dark recalled, stopping inside the rental for a picnic blanket after they had picked up their lunch, "I had a window seat, and there was a lot I was unprepared for, and not a lot I was excited about, because it is difficult to feel excitement when all you can think about is survival, but I was astounded by it."
 
"What does the ocean look like from a plane?" Alec asked curiously. He paused long enough to brush his hair, and Xander changed his shirt in two seconds. That done, they looked a little less like castaways.
 
"It is this... vast expanse of blue." He didn't have to think back to remember it having had many more flights after that initial one, and he was grateful for it. "It is difficult to grasp how big the ocean is until you see it from such a distance."

The rest of Daizi's birthday was spent on the beach, except for when Daizi decided to take a nap while Ivy did, feeling a bit tired from the heat and the time she had spent swimming, and after, she spoke with her family over zoom, and made Dark and the twins stop by to say hello. It was late in Egypt, but they had been willing to stay up since they knew in the morning, with them being on vacation, it'd be more difficult to reach them. For dinner that night, Dark told the kids to put on something nice because they were going to a higher-end restaurant for her birthday.

The next morning, when everyone was awake and had eaten, Dark forced them all into sunscreen, and headed outside to where they had to be for the dolphin tour. After stepping outside, though, he looked over at his sons and asked, "Would either of you like to push the stroller?"
 
The twins obliged and were very polite to Daizi's overseas family, trying to do Daizi proud. When they went out to eat, they hadn't packed anything especially nice to wear, but they put together their nicest outfit, and Alec even did his make up, keeping it a natural look, something he hadn't bothered to do at all since arriving on vacation. Xander was itching to get out of his clothes practically as soon as he put them on, but, again, they were both on their absolute best behavior.

After the restaurant and after a nice, quiet time with Daizi, the twins went onto the beach and played around, dancing and singing "The Best of You" by Andy Grammer. It was a fun time for them, but they made sure Daizi had all the attention she wanted, first. Then they started walking around in the sand and making various shapes with only their feet until it was time to pass out once more.

The twins looked at him in surprise. Neither Dark nor Daizi had offered that before to their memory. "Sure, I'll do it," Xander said first, quickly getting over his surprise.
 
When Xander agreed to take a turn pushing Ivy, Dark stood to the side to let Xander push, surprised he was the one who offered first, although, in retrospect, it made sense. Xander was the one who liked to drive, after all. And with one of the twins pushing the stroller rather than him, he was able to step back and walk arm-in-arm with his wife like they used to, much to Daizi's delight. Before bed the night before, she had told him how sad it sometimes made her, so now she squeezed his bicep and walked with her cheek resting against his shoulder, not bothering with his cane because she trusted he would guide her all the way to the dolphin tour.

In her stroller, Ivy didn't react at all to somebody different pushing her stroller, if she even noticed. The entire walk, she was loudly babbling and screeching, so her parents spoke back to her, trying to encourage her language skills.
 
Alec walked ahead of Ivy, sometimes turning to look at her and talk back to her just like her parents did, and occasionally nearly stepping off the path. He managed not to hurt himself, though, and felt he did a good job of keeping her entertained. Xander pushed the stroller along steadily, refusing to give into the impulse to do any funny business with it. This was his first time. Maybe next time he could do some funny business.
 
Upon making it to the Dolphin Tours spot, they were all, once again, fitted with more life jackets, although this one didn't have one quite big enough for Dark or anywhere small enough for Ivy, so he was stuck in one that didn't exactly fit his chest properly and Ivy forwent one. There were a few other families and couples also on the same tour, and they all loaded onto the boat led by an overly-cheery young woman in a t-shirt with the company logo on it. She spoke into a microphone and introduced the captain, what their plans for the trip were, safety instructions, and then set out.
 
Xander grumbled a bit, annoyed at being trapped in a life jacket again, but this one fit better than the last couple. He settled down and played absently with the straps of his jacket while listening to the spiel.

"I wonder how many times a day she has to say all that," Alec whispered to Daizi.
 
"We should probably have thought ahead and brought our own," Dark tried to loosen his straps further. It wasn't going so well, and in retrospect he should've been more surprised that their last experience had one that fit him fairly well. They let Ivy on without one, maybe he could get permission to remove his. He'd sign a waver, if need be.

"That's a good question," Daizi replied, bouncing Ivy on her knee, "It probably depends on how many shifts she's allowed to work a day. You'll have to point out to Ivy when we see the dolphins, okay? I don't want her to miss them because I can't see."
 
"If we plan on doing more beach things in the future, maybe it's something to invest in, but I doubt any of them will ever by comfortable," Xander grumbled, shifting a little. "And yes, I know, I'm saying that to you while you're currently looking like a bad skeleton cosplay with those straps."

"Don't worry, she'll totally know about them," Alec assured Daizi. "I bet everyone is going to freak out and be super excited. Including me! I'll make sure she's pointed in the right direction."
 
"Cooger has one that fits me somewhat better for when we are on his boat, but we often choose to simply be unsafe." Dark replied, giving up and accepting discomfort, "May you never grow to a size where you fall to one end of the bell curve. The entire world is too small."

"I know she won't remember any of this when she's ten, but she'll remember it tomorrow, and all of it sets her expectations for life." She kissed the top of Ivy's head, "Too many children don't have the freedom to learn how wonderful the world can be when they're small."
 
"I wonder which is worse: to have the world be too small, or to have it be too big," Xander commented.

Alec wasn't sure if Ivy would remember the next day, but it wasn't like he'd studied up on baby memory banks, so he accepted it. "I guess most parents are too scared to take their kids out in case something bad happens to them."
 
"If you cannot reach the top shelf, you can get a ladder. It is harder to raise the ceiling. But luckily, you do not need to deal with either."

Immediately, Daizi confessed the truth to Alec, "It's terrifying. I act like it's not, because I want her to have experiences, and I think it's wonderful to hear her enjoy something new, and anyway, if I act nervous, she'll think there's a reason to be nervous, and then she'll grow up anxious, which I don't want for her. I don't want to be a helicopter parent. But I understand how people end up like that."
 
"Yeah, you're right there," Xander agreed. He shaded his eyes to look out at the water. "Hey, water movement. I don't think it's dolphins, though."

Alec nodded. "I appreciate that," he admitted. "It's not like I'm the most secure person in the world, but I want her to be braver than me!"
 
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